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Dead -nettle – free food for rabbits

There’s some Purple Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) growing just outside our garden gate. It’s not something I’ve ever offered to the rabbits before because I’ve heard it has quite a bitter taste (especially once flowering). It is however, a safe wild plant for them to eat. Dead-nettle is also a favourite food for bees early in spring so I’m not keen to deprive them.

Dead-nettle can be found in red/purple or white (Lamium album) and does not sting like the common nettle. Like the stinging nettle it is however edible and can be used in salads, stir-fry and soups for humans.

Out of curiosity I picked a couple of stems and offered them to Daisy and Hazel. They must have decided they were delicious because this started a bit of a squabble and the Dead-nettle was gobbled up in seconds.